Ravens kicker Matt Stover has a short memory during the game, but once the game ends, the 40-year-old remembers every detail of every kick.
It’s an approach that has worked well for Stover over 19 seasons, so he’ll stick to it as he’s perseveres through one of the few rough stretches in a storied career.
Through four games, Stover has made 4-of-7 field goal attempts, with all of his misses coming from beyond 40 yards, including a 45-yarder in a 13-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. Still, Stover, in his 19th season, has made 83.6 percent (439-of-526) of his field goal attempts during his career — third best in NFL history behind San Diego’s Nate Kaeding (86.2) and the retired Mike Vanderjagt (86.5).
“I consider myself a golfer out on the football field,” Stover, who made 8-of-13 attempts from at least 40 yards last season, said. “That requires a lot of familiarity with your swing and what are your habits when things don’t go well. You evaluate, stay on top of things and never get complacent.”
The biggest challenge for Stover this season, however, has been adjusting to a different stance of Sam Koch. Jerry Rosburg, the team’s special team’s coordinator, is trying to decrease the time it takes for long snapper Matt Katula to get the ball into Koch’s hands.
“The fact is that Jerry has changed the stance of the holder a little bit, which opens up the holder to make some catches, and Sam is doing a great job with that technique,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “The ball is getting down faster, so that gives a kicker a better chance to look at the ball longer. Sometimes the factor there is that [Stover] thinks that he’s moving slower than he is because the ball’s down quicker, so he feels like he’s got to get to the ball quicker.”
Harbaugh and Rosburg believe Stover’s power and accuracy are as good as they were when he was with the Browns before the team moved to Baltimore in 1996.
“I’m not concerned with Matt’s age,” Harbaugh said. “He’s kicked very well in practice and even the balls he’s missed he’s hit very well, so it’s not like he’s losing leg strength.”
Stover made 27-of-32 field goal attempts last season and his 107 points marked the fifth straight season he scored at least 100. His 439 career field goals are the most among active kickers and his 1,843 points rank fifth all time. He also has made 357 straight extra-points, which is just 14 behind the all-time record of 371 shared by Jason Elam (1993-2002) and Jeff Wilkins (1999-2007).
“We have a lot of confidence in Matt not just because of his past, but because of his present performance,” Rosburg said. “We want to make every field goal and unfortunately he missed a couple and he takes that very seriously. He’s been grinding every one of those kicks out, analyzing every particular of them and working to correct it. I have great confidence that Matt is going to perform well this weekend.”
MOST FGs MADE SINCE ’96
Player FG-FGA Pct.
1. Matt Stover 331-392 84.4
2. Jason Elam 319-391 81.6
3. Adam Vinatieri 315-384 82
4. Jeff Wilkins 295-362 81.5
5. Jason Hanson 289-347 83.3
ALL-TIME NFL SCORING LIST
Player Years Points
1. Morten Andersen 82-07 2,544
2. Gary Anderson 82-04 2,434
3. George Blanda 49-75 2,002
4. John Carney 88-pres. 1,861
5. Matt Stover 91-pres. 1,843
